This isn’t your normal cinnamon cake, we’re pumping up the flavor and moistness in this one and it seriously tastes like a cinnamon roll. Have this Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Cake as a rich breakfast coffee cake, or have it for dessert. It’s super moist, thanks to the help of sour cream, then it’s covered in a smooth cinnamon glaze.
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Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
Oh how I love cinnamon. I add it to just about anything. I’m not just talking about cinnamon rolls and pies, I mean stuff like cereal or ice cream. Have you tried it on ice cream? You should, it’s amazing. Anyway, to me, cinnamon just makes anything better.
This Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Cake has got some major cinnamon swirl going on.
I couldn’t decide whether to call this one cinnamon swirl sour cream cake, or actually just cinnamon roll cake because it seriously tastes like a straight up cinnamon roll.
This cake comes out of the oven with a river of cinnamon running throughout the middle. It gives you a good mouthful of brown sugar cinnamony goodness.
And if you want even more swirl than my cake has, feel free to swirl your batter a little more. You just want to be careful that you don’t go crazy, or you’ll lose the swirl effect.
Now, any time is a good time to have cinnamon cake, but it’s especially good during the holidays, because seriously this cake tastes like a mouthful of Christmas.
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LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS FOR THE CINNAMON SWIRL CAKE:
Cinnamon: Ok, obviously this cinnamon cake’s got cinnamon in it. No secret there, but we’ll be adding cinnamon to the batter, for the swirl and into the glaze. Nope we’re not skimping on the cinnamon.
Oh and I love using Saigon Cinnamon. It’s a really nice cinnamon, so if you can get it, definitely use it.
Brown Sugar: The brown sugar is for the cinnamon swirl. Don’t skip this part…it really makes the cake.
Sour Cream: I love sour cream in cakes. It makes them SO moist and gives them such good flavor.
MIXING METHOD FOR THE CINNAMON SWIRL CAKE:
The mixing method for this cake is the creaming method. You’ll be whipping the butter and sugar until fluffy and then adding in the dry and liquid ingredients alternately. Easy Peasy.
TIPS & FAQS FOR THE CINNAMON SWIRL CAKE:
This cake is really moist and will stick to the pan if you don’t.
Yes room temperature butter matters. You don’t want to microwave it because it will not warm the butter evenly. Room temperature butter mixes better with the other ingredients.
Either one is perfectly fine.
You’ll get best results using sour cream, but if you can’t get it, you can use yogurt instead. Try and use the full fat version and not the light yogurt though.
I just took a knife and swirled a few times around the cake once the batter was added to the pan. If you even more of a swirl, then use your knife and drag it around the batter a few more times. Be careful not to swirl it too much though or you’ll lose the swirl and it’ll just blend in too much with the cake batter.
Ok, now let’s get to the recipe!
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe:
Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon (for the main cake batter)
- 2 tablespoon cinnamon (for the cinnamon swirl)
- ½ cup packed brown sugar (for the cinnamon swirl)
- 1 ¾ cups regular sugar (for the main cake batter)
- 1 cup butter (room temp)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the Cinnamon Glaze:
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup milk or cream (can add 1-2 tablespoon more)
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Instructions
For the cake:
- Grease and flour a bundt pan well. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon. Whisk well and set aside.
- In another bowl, add the sour cream, milk and vanilla. Whisk well and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the butter and 1 ¾ cup of regular sugar. Mix on medium and then on medium high for several minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs two at a time and mix on medium just until combined.
- Alternately add in the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture. (Add in ⅓ of the flour mixture and mix on medium just until combined. Add in ½ the sour cream mixture, mixing only until combined. Add in another ⅓ of the flour mixture, mixing only until combined. Add in the last of the sour cream mixture, mixing only until combined, then the last of the flour mixture and mix until well combined.) You only want to mix until well combined, about 20 seconds. Mixing for several minutes is too long.
- In another bowl, mix together ½ cup packed brown sugar and 2 tablespoon of cinnamon and set aside.
- Add a little less than ½ of the cake batter to your pan and smooth.
- Sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon mixture over the batter.
- Add the remaining cake batter into the pan and smooth.
- Take a knife and gently swirl the batter around. Just go around a couple of times. If you want more of a swirl, go ahead and swirl a bit more. You just want to be careful not to swirl too much or it’ll mix completely together and you will lose the swirl effect.
- Bake at 325 degrees for about 55 minutes to 1 hour.
- Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then turn out of the pan and onto a rack or a cake plate and cool completely.
For the glaze:
- In a mixing bowl, add in the confectioners sugar, cinnamon, extract and milk. Mix well until smooth. Check the consistency. If it’s too thick for drizzling, add more milk or cream by tablespoon until desired consistency.
- Drizzle over cooled cake.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
How to Share
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If you make this one, let me know what you think! I hope you love it as much as I do. 🙂
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Supplies Used for the Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Cake:
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Darby
I love cinnamon! Can this cake travel? We drive to my in-laws for Christmas each year; but it is a 14-hr drive. Any suggestions for getting the cake there while making sure it is still edible a day or two after arrival? Thanks for adding video, too.
Kara Jane
That is a long drive! This cake holds up pretty well actually and since it’s a bundt cake, it should travel fairly easily. I would just put it in a good cake carrier so it won’t dry out on you and make sure it stays cool or room temp. I’m thinking it will be fine though. I don’t know if I could travel with it that long without eating it though! ?
Darby
Thank you! I have a cake carrier already, so I’m all set. I might have to do a ‘test’ cake next week, just to be sure.
Kara Jane
Good idea. Test cakes are fun…you get to eat the whole thing. 😉
Laura
What size Bundt pan do you use? I have the official anniversary Bundt pan…I think it is 12 cups. Thoughts? Thanks, Laura
Kara Jane
Hey Laura, that one should be just fine to use.
Dee
I’m going to try this. I hope I don’t loose my swirl
Kara
Just stop swirling before it all mixes together and you’ll be ok. Crossing my fingers for you!
Suzanne
So good and flavorful. I used gluten free flour (Cup4Cup) followed your direction but just let it sit 30 mins before baking. The icing was so good and maybe I waited for it to completely cool down or maybe I didn’t. Either way, it totally hit the spot.
Kara
Love it! So glad you liked it and glad to know that the gluten-free, cup-for-cup works for this recipe. I too ‘may or may not’ wait until things cool to go after it. lol! Thanks for the great review!
Sabrina
I’ve made this cake so many times, it’s amazing !! Can it be frozen? Traveling for the holiday and want to make it ahead of time if possible.
Kara
Hi Sabrina…so glad you love this cake! Yes, I think it would be just fine to freeze. Just let it cool first, then wrap it well in plastic wrap. (I usually wrap it twice.) Then wrap it in foil and freeze. To thaw out, just set it on the counter still in the wrappings and let it sit out for a couple of hours, then unwrap and add a glaze if you want. Safe travels to you over the holidays!